Lemurian registration is now open!

The 19th annual Lemurian Shasta Classic will take place at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area on Saturday April 29th. Lemurian offers an extremely challenging 26 mi long course, a tamer 20 mile intermediate course and an 8 mile short course. The 2 longer courses include the infamous "Couch" trail descent. More race info, course maps, photos from 2005, and registration forms are available at the Lemurian website at www.shastalemurian.org. Or register online at Active.com.

Guided prerides of the long & intermediate courses will be held Sunday March 26. And its likely the Redding Mountain Bike Club's Saturday March 25th ride will preride all 3 courses, so riders from out of the area can make a weekend of it. More preride details will be available as the date draws closer.

The 19th annual Lemurian Shasta Classic will take place at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area on Saturday April 29th. Lemurian offers an extremely challenging 26 mi long course, a tamer 20 mile intermediate course and an 8 mile short course. The 2 longer courses include the infamous "Couch" trail descent. More race info, course maps, photos from 2005, and registration forms are available at the Lemurian website at www.shastalemurian.org. Or register online at Active.com.

Any updates on the trail conditions? I'm thinking about heading up for the race. Are there profiles of the intermediate and long course? I can't decide which to do, but when I raced in 2002 at French Gulch that second hill on the long course absolutely killed me (ok the SS didn't help, nor did the heat).

I rode a portion of the course on Friday. The trails are in pretty good shape. Mud won't be an issue since Whiskeytown is mostly decomposed granite. When it rains the creeks run a little higher, and sometimes there is standing water in the flume trails. None of the creeks are hub deep, but a bottle of chain lube in the jersey pocket is a good idea.

Derek I'm planning to ride the entire long course on Tuesday with a Garmin device. I'm told I'll be able to download the data in Google Earth, so you should be able to see profiles then. One thing I can tell you is that the extra 6 miles of the long course involves only 1 significant climb of 300-400 ft that takes about 10 minutes. The rest of the loop is some of the best single track you'll find anywhere with rock gardens, fast swoopy descents, tight, technical singletrack and flat, fast flume trails.

Since both the sport and expert courses do the same climb back to Brandy Cr, I suggest riding the long course. The climb starts about mile 16 on the long course and is about 1600 ft over 6 miles. The first 2 miles are single track, then 2 miles of fire road, then a mile of double track to a mile of single track (starts out really steep, then flattens out some). Total elevation gain is about 5900' over 26 miles.

The Couch descent is not to be missed! Lots of the photos on this thread are from the Couch.

Long course profile below. The intermediate course profile is nearly identical, just omit miles 7-13 on the long course. You can see there really isn't much extra climbing on the long course, and the additional mileage is nearly 100% really fun single track.

Same course as last year, and mud really won't be an issue (really). There's only 1 mud bog and its only 30 yds long. Running water is another story though. Right now the creeks are pretty high and do a good job of washing the lube off your chain. There's a group of 3 of us riding the long course tomorrow (Tuesday) if anyone wants to join us. Haven't received your entry yet Merlin, but I haven't seen the Active.com entries from the weekend.

Same course as last year, and mud really won't be an issue (really). There's only 1 mud bog and its only 30 yds long. Running water is another story though. Right now the creeks are pretty high and do a good job of washing the lube off your chain. There's a group of 3 of us riding the long course tomorrow (Tuesday) if anyone wants to join us. Haven't received your entry yet Merlin, but I haven't seen the Active.com entries from the weekend.

OK, I beleive you ( sort of) about the mud Let us know the best way to get throughthe water after you ride it. I'm inclined to just get off the bike after my Sea Otter experience. It would be a nice change to not have any mechnical issues. BTW, I signed up through active.com on Friday.

Thanks for the description, I'll definitely plan on the long course based on your description. I'll be interested in hearing the stats from your ride with the GPS. Based on your profile I can't really see how that adds up to 5900', but I've been known to be way off on mileage and elevation gain (ask my wife).

Derek, looking at the profile it doesn't seem to add up to 5900 ft does it? I assure you (and I'll bet Merlin will confirm this) that there is plenty of climbing. Maybe because so much of the course is single track, it seems like more elevation gain than it really is?

I'll try to remember to take a pic of my bike after the ride tomorrow. It'll be covered with a light, fine coat of sand-like grit. BTW, got your reg Merlin!

I haven't raced the lemurian since 98, and I just registered but it seems it's not the traditional "lemurian shoot" that I did years ago. I'm wondering what kind of bike would be ideal for this course? Hopefully it won't be as brutal as it was back when the lemurian was held near the bottom of shasta dam? Any feedback would be appreciated.

I haven't raced the lemurian since 98, and I just registered but it seems it's not the traditional "lemurian shoot" that I did years ago. I'm wondering what kind of bike would be ideal for this course? Hopefully it won't be as brutal as it was back when the lemurian was held near the bottom of shasta dam? Any feedback would be appreciated.

They put together a new course last year. I'll be on my Blur XC, there were lots of people who did well on a hardtail last year. You do not need a free ride bike. There is lots of climbing! Hope that helps

I haven't raced the lemurian since 98, and I just registered but it seems it's not the traditional "lemurian shoot" that I did years ago. I'm wondering what kind of bike would be ideal for this course? Hopefully it won't be as brutal as it was back when the lemurian was held near the bottom of shasta dam? Any feedback would be appreciated.

The Whiskeytown course is not as punishing as the old Shasta Dam course. Some sections are rocky, but the big descents are relatively (note: relative to this area) smooth. A FS bike would work pretty good, but it's totally doable on a hardtail, and given the amount of fireroad climbing it wouldn't be a bad choice. I'd recommend going a little on the fat side with the tires, or at least run some extra PSI in your back tire so you don't pinch flat.

So how are things out there?

Google Earth of the course

Here's a quick Google Earth kmz file for the long course. You can see where the intermediate course cuts out the western portion of the long course, and you can also see that there's not much climbing cut out!

The mapping is a little rough in spots but this should give you a good idea of what the course looks like. I don't have the whole thing GPSed so I had to guess based on air photos.

The KMZ is redunda-zipped to get around the file restrictions. Download, unzip, and enjoy!

I rode 100% of the ice box with the exception of the creek crossing where the dam used to be. They've got to put a bridge in there, the creek isn't deep and its possible to jump from one side to the other, but the sides are like 2 ft vertical...just no way (that I can imagine) to ride it.

I checked with my map guy who rode with us today about the elevation gain. He said folks regularly record 4600 - 4800 ft on the long course. It sure seems like more!

"Hey Ron - any objection to racing the beginner course on a unicycle?" LOL. Welby you make me laugh! You could bring your 3 legged dog with you too if you want! Seriously, no objection to a uni, and I'd dearly love to see how it goes, sounds pretty cool!

Oh yeah, the course report: The course is in pretty good shape - but you knew I'd say that. Seriously, it last rained on Sunday and the creek crossings today (Tuesday) were pretty manageable with the exception of the big creek half way up the final climb. That one is never rideable, even in August, but the water was say mid-calf or at least below my knee. Mud: yep there's mud, but its not 26 miles of goop. Its mostly dry with sections of standing water in the Clear Cr Canal trail. You can feel your tires sink into the goo as you ride through the water (not as deep as your hubs) but it never attacks your drive train. Instead it washes your lube away. I started getting ghost shifting after the flume section on the long course. At the bridge across Clear Cr (aid station #1) I reapplied chain lube (didn't even wipe my chain off) and I was good to go for the rest of the ride. If you forget your chain lube, the aid stations will have some along with some basic tools and a floor pump. The Couch descent was awesome! The snow is gone, and I managed to clean all the steep parts, a first for me! But be warned, the creek crossing just before you exit the Couch is unrideable, another creek with vertical walls. When we left Whiskeytown, I saw maybe 20 riders heading out. More traffic will only help the course!

I'll try to decipher the Garmin data tomorrow, it looks pretty complex and I may have inadvertantly turned the thing off at 20 miles. I also took a few pics on the Couch, but theyare kinda dark and aren't particuarly special.
Ron